Page 302 - The Legacy of Abraham Rothstein - text

Catalogue Raisonné

By 1990 the multitude of AR’s works had been sitting for years in
the homes of several family members. What follows is a systematic
attempt I made in that year to identify every one of those pieces and
to interpret them—within certain limits. Some carvings will never be
located (for example, the cane given to Ben Aronin); others have
fallen to the ravages of time and circumstance (almost all the painted
coconut heads have disappeared, and most of one chess set fell
before the onslaught of a teething puppy); and yet others are known,
tantalizingly, only in blurred photographic images (such as the group
of plaster figurines once residing on AR’s old console radio) or the
fading memories of his descendants (where is that large rampant
bear?).
Nevertheless, the bulk of AR’s work is intact, and it is almost
certain that the missing pieces would break no new ground in either
form or content. What is less certain, of course, is the future. Carmel
Winkler, holder of the largest collection, has contacted various Jewish
institutions regarding either exhibition or acquisition of those pieces;
nothing has come of those inquiries. The time, perhaps, is not ripe
for a wider appreciation of AR’s sculpture—or, at least, of his best
pieces. Are they Jewish art? Folk or naïve art? Unable to compare
with the canon of high-quality carvings of this century? But the time
may come when museum curators and academic art historians
recognize their value; it is the responsibility of his descendants to
preserve AR’s legacy until then.
Not catalogued is the urn AR made for his own ashes. As noted in
Carmel Winkler’s reminiscences, this object met the legal
requirements for such containers, and she honored his wishes by
using it. As she described it, the outer rolled-metal surface was chased
with images of the twelve tribes of Israel and a Hebrew inscription.
That text, not translated until 1989, has survived on a scrap of paper,
perhaps AR’s preliminary design: “Transfer the ashes of my bones
from this place to Jerusalem, land of my fathers.” Unfortunately, that
wish (were it serious) he did not make known in advance, and AR’s
urn is to be found today in the columbarium at Hillside Memorial
Park in Los Angeles.
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